Massage machine



Feb. 7, 1939. L w. w. EVANS 2,146,177

MASSAGE MACHINE Filed Oct. 6, 1957 INVENTOR. mam ZZZ-0am ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 7, 1939 UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE MASSAGE MACHINE William W. Evans, Los Angeles, Calif. Application October 6, 1937, Serial No. 167,615

11 Claims.

My invention relates to a massage machine of a type in which the massage is given by repeated beatings or a Wiping action by a rapidly moving towel, cloth or other equivalent fabric. My construction is such thata person may stand adjacent the machine and be subject to the massaging action due to the towel or other fabric being rotated at a high speed and the ends thrown out by centrifugal action. There have been a number of machines designed as heaters and such like in which flexible material such as flexible arms, cords or the like are mounted in a holder and rapidly rotated, thus acting as beaters for cleaning carpets, rugs and the like, also attempts have been made to employ towels or other similar shaped fabric mounted in a holder and rotated whereby the ends are projected outwardly by centrifugal force and to utilize such a construction for drying the body in the socalled bathing machines. However my invention is intended more to give a massage and has the characteristics of a holder in which the towel may be readily inserted, such holder being mounted on a vertical rotating shaft whereby it may be raised and lowered to give a massage action from the head to the feet. The towel holder or carriage is mounted on the vertical shaft to be raised and lowered, there being a counterweight so that the user of the machine may readily change the position as to heighth from the floor and thus the operator may readily regulate the portion of the body being subject to massage.

Another object and feature of my invention is a simple construction for varying the speed to have either a slow or a high rate of rotation of the towel carriage and hence the towel and to reverse the direction of rotation, also varying the speed in the reverse motion. My invention also comprehends the assembling and mounting of the machine whereby it may readily be located in the corner of a room and thus take up but little floor space having the vertical shaft mounted in an anti-friction bearing on the floor and like. 'The centrifugal action causes an outward fiow of liquid towards the ends of the towel so that the body is massaged by the damp towel. A more specific feature utilizes receptacles on the towel carriage for the liquid medicament. A towel holder clip assembly for supporting a towel has a perforated hollow rod or tube through which the liquid is discharged to the web of the towel and then flows outwardly under centrifugal action towards the ends of the towel.

My invention is illustrated in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation taken in the direction of the arrow l of Fig. 3.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows, certain of the various parts being shown in elevation and the floor support being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows, certain elements of the change and reverse speed friction drive being shown in plan.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows to illustrate mainly the towel holder clips.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 2 through the counterweight pulleys.

Fig. 6 is a detail vertical section showing another form of the liquid medicament tank with a valve feed.

In my invention I employ a floor bearing II which has a receiving socket l2 with. an antifriction bearing therein for the rotatable tubular shaft l3. This shaft has a longitudinal spline 14. A supporting structure and drive assembly designated by the numeral l5 includes preferably a cylindrical case 16 from which arms 1'! diverge and having attaching plates Hi to connect to two walls meeting for instance at a right angular corner. Such case has a bottom 92. a journal neck 20 with a bushing 2| fitted therein and held in place by a nut 22 threaded in the neck. A friction disc 23 has a collar 24 attached to the upper end of the shaft and thus transmits the rotational drive to the shaft.

This drive is by means of a drive shaft 25 which has one end journalled in a cup 25 at one side of the cylinder IS. The opposite end 2'! is journalled in a bearing 28. A drive pulley 29 is connected to the outer end of the shaft and is actuated by a V shaped drive belt 30 operated from the drive pulley 3| on the shaft 32 of an electric motor 33, this motor being supported on the top or cover 34' of the case. The drive shaft as to the part inside of the case is preferably square or other non-circular shape and carries a longitudinally slidable friction wheel 40.

til

Such wheel is shown as having transverse ends 4I, sloping sides 42, an annular groove 43, in which is fitted a. friction tread ring 44. This may be of suitable material to develop friction against the disc 23. The friction wheel is moved. longitudinally on the shaft 25 by means of a yoke 45 which has opposite arms 46 with inturned tips 41 to engage the plane ends M of the friction wheel. This yoke has a threaded hub 48 through which passes the screw 49 being mounted in journals 50 and 5I on opposite sides of the case. The screw has an operating hand wheel 52 with a handle 53 for ready rotation. A short arm 54 extends from the nut 48 in a direction opposite to the yoke arms and is provided with an eye 55 through which passes a guide rod 56, this rod being secured as indicated at 51 to op posite portions of the case I6. It will therefore be seen that by rotating the handle 53, the screw is turned and thus moves the yoke assembly 45 longitudinally of the screw, the guide rod 56 and hence of the shaft 25. This develops a variable friction feed and also a reverse motion by passing the friction wheel from one side to the other of the center of the friction disc and of the shaft.

The towel carriage 60 has a hub 6| with a longitudinal keyway 62 fitted on the spline I4 and thus giving a driving relation with the rotatable shaft IS. The hub is provided with light weight upper and lower flanges 64 and 63. A pair of hollow rods 66 positioned. diametrically opposite connect the flanges 63 and 64, thus strengthening the carriage and forming part of a towel holder. The other portion of the towel holder is a wire clip III which has a rod II illustrated as secured at I2 to the bottom flange 63, a reverse bend I3, a downwardly extending portion l4 parallel to the rod 'II, terminating at I5 attached to the flange 63. The two portions II and I4 of. this spring clip are placed closely contiguous to the rods or bars 66 but offset slightly to one side from the axial center of such rods. The towel is threaded between the spring clip and the rods 66, the center portion of the towel indicated at 8| encircling part of the hub 6|. The towel may readily be inserted edgewise at the reverse bend I3 of the spring clip. The towel is preferably stretched to have its end portions extend equi-distant from the center of the shaft.

The balancing mechanism for readily raising and lowering the carriage and towel includes. a counterweight assembly 85. This comprises the tube I3 having a pair of opposite slots 86 with pulleys 8'I fitted therein and mounted on journal pins 86. A counterweight 89 has a sliding fit inside of the tubular shaft I3 and has two counterweight cords 90 extending upwardly from the weight over each pulley downwardly on the outside of the shaft and attached to the upper flange by eyes 9!. By this construction a slight pressure up or down on the towel carriage, that is, on the flanges 63 or 64, readily moves this carriage vertically on the shaft, the carriage remaining at any elevation.

In the manipulation of. this type of massage machine it will be seenthat the person taking the massage treatment may control the rate of rotation of the shaft as the hand wheel 52 and the handle 53 are in a convenient position tobe rotated. The electric motor may drive at a constant speed and the variable speed to the shaft I3 is developed through the friction gear drive. As is common with this type of drive,-the direction of rotation may be reversed as above set forth. The towel holds in proper position on gal force. 7 2. In a massage machine as claimed in claim 1, 7

wardly by a centrifugal force or action and thus I give a. massaging or beating action on the body of the operator. Manifestly the shaft I3 may be of such a height that the user may obtain a. massage from head to foot and by turning the body can have a massage for the whole of the body.

In order to give a medicated massage by a liquid carried by the towel, I employ liquid reservoirs such as secured tothe upper flange 64 of the towel carriage. Each reservoir has a removable filler plug 96 and a connection to the hollow rod or tube 66. Such tube has perforations 91 on the side adjacent the web of the towel. A drain plug 98 extends through the lower flange 63 communicating with the tube 66 and may be used to drain the surplus liquid. By this construction the liquid such asrubbing alcohol, witch-hazel or the like is placed in the reservoir, the filler plug is then re-inserted. This liquid flows down in the tubes 66, being discharged at the perforations and therefore dampening the web of the cloth or towel secured in place by the towel holder including the towel holder clip. The moisture applied to the towel has a slow flowing'action outwardly towards the ends of the towel by centrifugal action and hence dampens the towel for giving this medicated massage.

In Fig. 6 I show an alternative form of reservoir construction in which a reservoir designated I65 is formed as a built-in construction or directly'mounted on the upper flange I96, this being equivalent to the flange 64 of Fig. 2. Such reservoir preferably covers the complete top of the disc but has a central opening for the shaft I3. This reservoir has a cylindrical peripheral edge II", a top I08. The feed tube for the medicament I69 extends downwardly from the flange I96 and. has perforations III]. A valve plug III is threaded in an opening in the top and has a bottom washer I I2 which forms a seal with the top of the pipe I09, also an upper washer II3 which forms a seal with air inlet perforations I I4. A filler plug H5 is provided. By this construction a relatively large quantity of liquid may be carried by the towel carriage. The feed may be regulated by the valve plug III. it is desired to shut off the feed entirely the plug is screwed down tight. In this construction the counterweight 86 is design-ed to balance the carriage with the reservoir substantially filled with liquid.

Various Changes ay be made in the details of the construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim: I e

1. In a massage machine, a towe1 carriage having a central hub, a supporting structure forming a mounting for the hub whereby the carriage may be rotated on the axis of the hub,a pair of flanges extending outwardly from the tub, a towel holder including towel engaging elements extending between the two flanges and having means to hold and retain a flat strip of fabric forming the towel whereby on rotation of the carriage the ends of the towel outside of the towel holder are thrown outwardly, by centrifuthe said towel holder including a pair of rods connecting the two flanges, a wire clip positioned When i adjacent each rod, each clip having two parallel wires with a reverse bend, parallel portions being also parallel to the rod and the ends of the wire being attached to one of the flanges whereby the fabric strip is retained between the spring clip and the rod adjacent thereto.

, 3. In a massage machine as claimed in claim 1, the supporting structure for the hub including a hollow rotatable shaft with means forming journals for said shaft, there being means to rotate the shaft, a counterweight in the shaft, the

shaft being positioned vertical, counterweight cords connecting the counterweight and the towel carriage and operating through guides in the shaft whereby the carriage may be raised and lowered on the shaft and retained at any desired position.

4. A massage machine comprising in combination an upper journal structure having means for attachment to a wall, a lower bearing adapted for attachment to the floor, a shaft rotatably mounted at its lower end in the bearing and its upper end in the journal structure, means to rotate the shaft from one end, a towel carriage connected to the shaft for rotational movement and for raising and lowering, said towel carriage having a pair of towel holders secured thereto, each holder being substantially parallel to the shaft and the holders being substantially on diametrically opposite sides of the shaft, the holders having a construction to engage a fiat strip of ing from the counterweight over the pulleys and connected to the carriage whereby the carriage is substantially balanced by the counterweight and may be raised and lowered on the shaft and retained in any desired position.

6. A massage machine as claimed in claim 4, the means to drive the shaft comprising a friction disc connected to the upper end of the shaft above the upper journal, a friction wheel rotatably and longitudinally movable on a shaft positioned above the friction disc, said latter shaft being transverse to the shaft having the towel carriage thereon, means to rotate the friction wheel shaft and means to move the friction wheel longitudinally of such latter shaft.

7. A massage machine as claimed in claim 4, the towel holder having a reservoir in its upper portion for a liquid medicament, one or both of the towel holders having a tubular rod with perforations connected to the reservoir for discharging the liquid medicament to the towel.

8. In a massage machine, a towel holding carriage having a central hub, means to rotate the carriage by the hub, towel holding clips and perforated tubes positioned spaced from the hub, the clips and. the tubes providing towel engaging means andmeans to supply a liquid medicament to the tubes whereby the medicament flows from the tubes to the towel and is carried outwardly in the towel by centrifugal force, the portions of the towel beyond the clips and the tubes being adapted to spread by a centrifugal action.

9. In a massage machine having a rotatable carriage having a reservoir and provided with upper and lower flanges, a tube extending between said flanges, a connection from the tube to the reservoir, a wire clip secured to one of the flanges and adapted to clamp a towel between the tube and the clip, the tube having perforations for discharging liquid medicament from the reservoir to the towel for outward flow under centrifugal force.

10. A massage machine comprising in combination a towel carriage, means to mount said carriage for rotation on its axis, said carriage having a plurality of towel holder clips positioned spaced from the axis of rotation of the carriage, said clips having means to engage a flat strip of fabric forming the towel whereby on rotation of the carriage the end portions of the towel projecting beyond the towel holder clip are thrown outwardly by centrifugal force, the carriage having a reservoir for liquid medicament, one element of the towel holding clips being hollow and having a connection to the reservoir with means to discharge the liquid medicament to the towel.

11. A massage machine comprising in combination a rotatable vertical shaft, a towel carriage having a hub slidably mounted on the shaft, means to counter-balance and to retain the carriage at a desired elevation on the shaft, an interengaging drive between the shaft and the hub, the carriage having a plurality of towel engaging clips spaced outwardly from the hub whereby a fiat strip of fabric forming a towel may be stretched between the clips and past the hub whereby the ends of the towel beyond the clips are forced outwardly by centrifugal force, at least one of the clips having a perforated tube, a reservoir mounted on the carriage and means to flow a liquid medicament from the reservoir to the tube and hence from the tube to the towel, such liquid being forced outwardly in the fabric at the towel ends by centrifugal force.

WILLIAM W. EVANS. 

